KUALA LUMPUR: Many netizens are happy that a complaints channel has been set up to combat insensitive posts on race, religion and royalty (3R) on social media and other online media platforms.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had urged the public to channel complaints about negative postings on the 3Rs to the WhatsApp number 016 220 6262 or via email to mediasosial@mcmc.gov.my.
The majority of netizens on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and online public discussion rooms lauded the move and expressed curiosity over its implementation.
The NST online article on the topic that was posted via Facebook on Saturday night was greeted with quite a number of shares, thumbs up and received constructive comments from users such as Daniel Tan.
“Time to reel them (racists) in. Remand them for questioning and see if they dare to open their mouth and talk again without thinking about the consequences,” he wrote, adding there were too many racists out there.
Another NSTonline follower, Neelaa Siva, also praised MCMC for taking action.
“Too many racist and instigating comments being posted daily. Finally,” she said.
Netizen K.A. Ramu said many irresponsible people were making “hate speeches or statements” without thinking about the outcome of their actions.
“They use social media to do it as it is easy to show their views.
“Views are important but it must not break our basic laws of this land. Good one!,” he posted.
A number of netizens were concerned over how the regulatory body would manage the complaints.
They pointed out that insensitive or malicious messages could be multi-lingual.
They also wondered who would be handling the email complaints and WhatsApp messages, and whether there were clear guidelines on what would be considered malicious or insensitive.
Netizens Chow Siew Cheong, Ng Tuck Meng and Wenny Kim pointed out that the MCMC complaints platform could be easily misused.
They said fake accounts and Virtual Private Network (VPN), which allowed users to securely access a private network and share data remotely through public networks, would prove to be a tough challenge.
Netizen Ganesan Maverick said MCMC could employ ethical hackers to tackle problems.
Another NST Online follower, Phan Ca, wanted to know how MCMC would ensure that freedom of speech was upheld.
“What are your guidelines so that the public are in the know and protected, without being abused by arbitrary rules or prejudices of the commission?” he asked.’
His sentiments were shared by social media user Jessie Kerouac who said: “What’s your criteria? Anyone can report anything as offensive.
“Will there be a quota of how many people of each race you will catch and what constitutes as offensive...”